Why Arathi Basin is like Kim Kardashian...

Or why the sudden rush for E-Sports...

And no, it's not because both have been used more often than is probably healthy...

Reality TV.

The bane of discerning television viewers everywhere.

It's cheap, frequently tawdry, and requires little to absolutely no effort on behalf of the programme makers to film and put together.

Think of Doctor Who vs Big Brother. Which do you think is the easier programme to make?

Without a doubt it's BB. In fact they can churn out hour long programmes on a daily basis whenever it comes around each year. Ditto telly like I'm a Celebrity etc.

Cheap, quick to make, and low quality content utterly dependent on Joe Public to make it really worthwhile engaging with for anyone, never mind fans.

So what the hell does a vehicle for vapid, inane "celebrities" like Kim Kardashian (eurgh, I feel dirty for just typing that name), or absolutely unknown, exploited members of the public have to do with e-sports?

Well, think of the story content of any expansion in WoW. It requires a lot of writing, similar to an average episode of Dr Who. It needs thought, effort, content and work put into it. And lots of it.

Then take a look at Heroes of the Storm, or Overwatch. Where does the majority of the workload go in there? Environments, models, classes. Story? Nope, it gets mere lip-service in comparison to the amount of lore poured into a WoW Expansion.

Once you get past the initial sheen of a new map, all of the entertainment value in Heroes, Overwatch or WoW PvP comes entirely from the players. The "content" creation is entirely up to you, as a player, to provide everything for the other players. Being good or bad at the game is largely irrelevant. You just have to show up. Blizzard merely provide the vehicle for you to do that in.

Do you think Blizzard would prefer to keep doing lore heavy expansions, or just adding PvP arenas? Which would be quicker and easier?

No doubt that's the reason why they much prefer PvP style content over PvE. PvP content is for all intents and purposes evergreen. It'll last forever. Maps never age, and they can be played indefinitely. New content? A new map or two once every few months should be more than enough. Generous even.

And these players will pay for new maps, skins, models, hell anything you can throw at them! They'll fork out hand over fist.

Written lore and story however?

One and it's done, both in purchase and consumption. Takes ages to produce and gets consumed all too quickly.

So if it hadn't hit you yet why Blizzard are heading more towards PvP/E-Sports content and games like Heroes and Overwatch?

Well, think of the bigger picture: Effort vs Reward.

Just don't be too surprised to see Kim Kardashian's butt as a new "sponsored" mount in Heroes of the Storm one day...